Okay, this is the second installment of Censored Tought's commitment to provide info on Australian punk/hardcore/ska. The bands below happen to fall into the L-Z category. Click on the letter you want to view or scroll down.
THE LAST HEMEROIDS
The Last Hemeroids (TLH) have been together for a couple of years. In the past year though they have really taken off. The play an old sounding cross between ska and Oi! and do it very well. The vocals of TLH even have that original sounding cockney twist, due to Martin's place of birth. You can see a photo of Martin gettin' crazy to the left of here. They started out as a four piece standard punk lineup but have along the way recruited Shannon who has the duties of playing sax and keyboards (obviously not at the same time). TLH have supported a number of international bands such as Voodoo Glowskulls and Bouncing Souls as well as playing along side many Australian legends, like their friends H-Block. In February '99 they completed their first tour of Melbourne. Apparently the shows went down very well with both the all-ages and over 18's crowd. They even played at a punk cross dressing night. I'd love to see some photos of that as the thought of some of those guys in a dress is rather amusing. TLH have a DIY cd out now called Feel The Pain (the cover of which has a photo of a huge "hemeroid" on the arse of an elephant...very amusing). It is very cheap (like $12 or something) and is quite long so go out of your way to find it. LAWNSMELL
Lawnsmell were the greatest Australian punk band ever (in my opinion anyway). They were only around for a short time, releasing a few 7"s, appearing on a few compilations and doing one full album. They were a classic pop-punk band from Sydney that consisted of the usual drums, single guitar and not-so usual two basses. Vocals were also shared between Glenn and Gina. They were heavily influenced by bands such as All, the Descendents and Screeching Weasel. Although, to be honest, they had a much harder edge to their music at times that ensured they were a very atypical pop-punk band. I honestly don't go through one week of my life without missing their music. Their album, "De-sexed", is still available for very cheap ($10). This is representative of the DIY ethic they held dear to. If you live overseas, you may be able to check them out through a split release they did in '97 with All You Can Eat. If you live in Australia and haven't ever checked them out, consider yourself as not only evil but as also having a life that is nowhere near complete. In fact, if you want to check Lawnsmell out and are unable to track down any of their stuff, I myself would be willing to get my hands on a copy for you. They seriously were one of the best bands ever and everybody should know this! There is rumoured to be a new discography of all the band's stuff to be out on Blind Records late this year. We can only hope it comes through!
THE LIVING END
The Living End definitely are not your typical punk band. They mix rockabilly and punk with such brilliant skill to form one of Australia's most promising bands of the moment.
The first time I heard of them was when they played support in Sydney for Greenday a few years back. At the time I thought they were the The Living End from the US (appearing on "Punk Sucks"). It seems to me that since then, Greenday have learned a few lessons from The Living End (think Hitching A Ride - by the way this is not the expected "slag Greenday at every chance" comment, I love Greenday). So if you haven't heard The Living End but like the direction taken by Greenday in Hitching A Ride, then maybe The Living End are a band you should try and track down. They have released numerous EP's, the best being "It's For Your Own Good". They play fairly regularly and always please any crowd. This is due to their quality music and sheer enthusiasm that carries straight over into the crowd (see photo). Definitely check this band out if you haven't already. They have enjoyed substantial mainstream success in recent months with a Top 10 single and signed to a major label…we'll see if they can continue producing quality music.
MACH PELICAN
Mach Pelican are sort of an Australian band and sort of a Japanese band. They are actually three Japanese guys living here (while they study I think). If you like The Ramones you will love Mach Pelican. If you hate The Ramones (what's wrong with you!!) you are best to avoid Mach Pelican like the plague. These guys are simply doing their best to pay homage to the great New York punks. It's not just the songs that Mach Pelican pump out that are reminiscent of The Ramones, it is the whole package including the clothing, the hair, the way they stand and even the Rock & Roll Highschool cover they play. Mach Pelican are a great band! They are great to see play live and are even good recorded. There is a lot of energy involved in their set and it is all good clean fun. I constantly have a smile on my face when I watch these guys play (anyone who knows me will know that is a big deal). They have an EP out called Blue Sky which you can pick up at their shows or any good independent record store in Australia. If you are especially keen, you can track down their stuff when they were known as The Highschools (all the same people but a different person on drums).MID YOUTH CRISIS
Mid Youth Crisis (formerly One Inch Punch) hail from Melbourne and are a melodic hardcore band that are sort of along the same lines as bands like Avail from the US. I really don't know all that much about this band but I do know that they are really good. They are always a pleasure to see live when they come to Sydney. They play fairly regularly as a result of them scoring the support slots for a lot of overseas bands in the past like Pennywise, Bad Religion, All, etc. They have recently brought out a new album called "Happiness And Authority" which is excellent. It sees the band continue with what they do best but also has some emo influences creeping in to it. It is worth checking out. They also recently toured Europe and were apparently well received. It has just come to my attention that MYC have broken up. This is really disturbing news to me because it has only been recently that I have begun to fully appreciate their music.They will be playing one last show in Melbourne soon. You've got to start wondering when all the great Australian bands will start to be into it for the long run.
MINDSNARE
Mindsnare are a very hardcore band from Melbourne. They are in the new-school of hardcore and are extremely tight. Their riffs are just phenomenal with each song just cramming in as many as possible. They have played a few times in Sydney in the past year and developed quite a following. They have played with everybody from Agnostic Front to those sexist "punks" Guttermouth. No matter who they play with, it is always a pleasure to see the band open for a lesser band. Most recently they came to Sydney as part of the Hardcore BBQ Tour. This saw them play with Mid Youth Crisis, Toe To Toe and Downtime. To be honest, even though they played as the opening act, they took the prize for the night by just completely blowing me away with guitaring that I never thought was possible to accomplish live without the benefits of studio dubbing. Mindsnare appear on a compilation cd showcasing Australian hardcore put out by a new label, First Blood Records, called "New Tools For The Hunter". This is available all over the world but may take some tracking down. In my opinion, Mindsnare are the best of a load of good Australian hardcore bands. They have released two EP's in their career so far. If you like the new school hardcore sound, or even if you usually don't (like me), check them out and it will be worth your while. At the moment they are without a drummer but intend to fill the gap and continue as soon as that happens. If you can help out get in contact with the band through their webpage (there is a link to it in the Links section of Censored Thought).
NANCY VANDAL
Nancy Vandal have been around for around three years now, and are self-confessed riders of the "punk rock bandwagon". They started out under the name of Nancy Vandal & The Popgun Assassins but then shortened it to just Nancy Vandal. They have released a lot of stuff as a result of cd's and 7"'s they put out with their zine, "The Vandals Voice". However, the main releases are "Zombie Skate Poets From The Planet Sex", "1-2-3 Baby Yeah!", "The Debriefing Room" and, most recently, "Bikini High Pool Party Massacre 3". One of the great things about this band is that they make a concentrated effort to keep prices low. Their older releases were only $15 (cd's in Australia are twice that normally)and the two most recent releases have indicated their bow to capitalism and they have raised the price to $20. They are a pop-punk band that mixes elements of garage and now ska that takes humour and sarcasm to brand new levels. They have had many line up changes over the years but now have their original lead guitarist on bass and a brass section has been added (The Western Hell Public School Band). This has seen them rework many of their old songs to give them a ska feel. In my opinion this has worked well. They play support for almost every international band that has made it out here in the past year and are apparently released in Europe through Subway Records. Their song "Frenzal Rhomb Were Better When Ben Was In The Band" has earned them a god-like status in my opinion because it is just so true. They recently had some degree of mainstream success with their previous album. I've heard that they took a break from the spotlight so that this would all die down - Good on them! Anyway, they are about to return again soon to tour their new single of the upcoming album. Apparently the new album will be more along the lines of bands like the Cramps. That should be good and I can't wait.
NINTENDO POLICE
The Nintendo Police are not a new band by any means but have recently started to get their shit together and play some more shows. I'm glad they have done so becuase they are a much welcomed breath of fresh air into the Sydney Hardcore scene. Nintendo Police play hardcore that is reminiscent of a time when the distinction between hardcore and regular punk was sometimes hard to determine. In other words, old-school US (particularly DC styled) hardcore. I've heard them be described as "Awesome DIY teenage punk rock" and this is a fitting description. They are representative of what hardcore should be about, a bunch of kids just getting up there and doing without an ounce of professionalism. That's not to say they are of a sub-standard quality, they're songs most definately hold their own. It was only a couple of months ago that they started playing shows regularly and they already have an overwhemling amount of people fully getting into their shows, some of the pile-up's have been insane. I'm sure they'll get better and better as time goes on.ODD ONE OUT
Odd One Out are a Sydney band that have been around for quite a while now. They play old-school punk in the vein of many of the heavier English bands from the 80s. They have a couple of demo's out and play fairly regularly around Sydney at the more low key punk shows at rehearsal spaces and youth centres. The demo tapes are worth getting but they are done with the band's old singer Will (Bastard Child zine). The screamed power-violence type vocals have disappeared with Will's departure and the new singer, Murray, gives the band a more "Oi" type sound, which is not by any means a bad thing. Anyway, the point is that they are a great band that are very exciting to watch play. If you want more info, want to get in contact with them, or want to get your hands on a demo, just go to their page through my links section. After two years, too many singers and way too much beer...OOO have called it a day! No longer will you be able to catch them and their crazy antics live. Never again will you hear them play "Fuck The Shirkers" with The Shirker up there singing along! They will be missed!
ONE STEP AHEAD
One Step Ahead are a band that have burst onto the scene with a great response. The band consists of ex-members of Bleeding Face, Zero Tolerance, Own Enemy and a heap of others. They play heavy, straight ahead hardcore. Musically, they seem to be influenced quite strongly from DC Hardcore (probably because that is where Miles, the guitarist, is from). There is all the great things about hardcore present in all of their songs with some awesome time changes and breakdowns. Vocally, they are pretty damn heavy. They vocals are very low-pitched and growly (is that even a word???). They guitarist, bassist and drummer have been playing together for quite some time in a few bands but when Brett joined for vocal duties in what was to be One Step Ahead, they took on a new sound. They already have a demo out and it is available for $3 from any of their shows. Go see them live and give them your support because they definately are one of the most promising hardcore bands in Australia at the moment.OWN ENEMY
Own Enemy is a side project between my other band, The Shirkers, and One Step Ahead with somebody from neither band on drums. We play old-school punk/hardcore in the vein of hardcore's pioneers like Minor Threat, Youth Brigade, Teen Idles and a lot of the other stuff that happened in that early Dischord era. Fast, short hardcore songs with a heap of passion and not a heap of distortion. For those familiar with Sydney hardcore but not us, you should maybe look to the Nintendo Police for a similar sounding band because that's the sort of stuff we're playing. The singing has been likened to "a more melodic version of AVO", maybe somewhere between AVO and Minute Minder...I don't know. Come see us live when we play next!
PEABODY
I guess Peabody are kind of stretching the limits of my definition of Punk to fit within the scope of this page, but then I remember that back in the 70's a lot of the punk was merely twisted pop music (something that is sometimes forgotten today) and this is what Peabody are. I have never heard their cd (they do have one) but have seen them live many times and heard them on two of my compilations. The first was a cover of the 80's song Wild, Wild West (I have to admit I even liked it then) and the other is their own song, Janet, which appears on a compilation cd showcasing Sydney's independent scene, "Aristotles Box". They are brilliant on both these releases but seeing them live is always an entirely different experience. They are one of the most fun bands you will ever see. They really have a lot of fun up on stage and so does ever member of the audience when they grace it with their presence. They play fairly regularly in Sydney, but if you live outside Australia I don't really like your chance of finding their stuff (but, as always, e-mail me and I could be able to help out).
THE SHIRKERS
I know its kind of dicky to do a spiel on your own band but I just couldn't help myself. We've together for about 2 years now but only been serious in about the last year. Basically we are old-school melodic punk band that tries not to stick to one specific sound, though we are far from being one of those trendy 'eclectic' bands. We play a brand of punk that mixes old '77 style shit with 80's US influenced punk/hardcore. To that we add a bit of Oi! and even emo-influenced punk. I'm not too sure what bands we'd use as a reference point if you hadn't heard us but some of our influences include Bad Religion (more the early stuff), Screeching Weasel, MYC, Spermbirds, Grimple, Operation Ivy, The Clash, Ramones, blah, blah, blah. So far we have played a few good shows with bands like Odd One Out, No Idea, The Last Hemeroids, Bastardos, Nintendo Police, One Step Ahead, Toe To Toe, TUBbH and even Frenzal Rhomb (very strange show). We released one demo with our old singer but then we kicked him out. Recently we recorded 10 songs which will be put on our first cd release which should be out sometime in July. Get in touch if you want a copy or want us for a show.
SOMMERSET
Sommerset are brilliant. They aren't actually an Australian band but are from across the water in New Zealand. Australian's have a history of claiming NZ musicians as their own so I will continue the tradition. They are bordering on the line between hardcore and punk but probably have a little to much melody to be called hardcore (unless you want to use the term melodic hardcore). I have only seen them once but they have been to Australia a number of times to play. I have their latest cd "More Songs" and it is so unbelievably good. I know that they have a few other releases (including a split 7" with MYC which is also good) but I don't have any info on them…sorry. If you send me an e-mail. If you ever get the chance to buy their stuff or see them live and are a fan of music like MYC or Avail do yourself a favour and part with your money.
TOE TO TOE
Toe To Toe are a Sydney hardcore band that are in their sixth year of existence. They are somewhat similar to the NYHC sound that is gaining popularity lately, this doesn't by any means say that they are not original. They are not merely a stale reproduction of a mould already created. They have developed a very loyal following over the years (I've never seen so many people with a tattoo dedicated to the same band) due to their full-on music and thoughtful lyrics as well as a great live reputation nation wide. They have one European tour under their belts and have played with most of the quality overseas hardcore acts that have visited Australia since the band's conception, including Agnostic Front, 59 Times The Pain and H2O. I am sure they will be at the forefront of Sydney Hardcore for some time yet and are worth seeing or listening to at any chance.
TUBbH
TUBbH are an extremely good (even if often misspelt) band from my local area. They are definitely a very under-rated band that deserve some recognition. They've released three demos, appeared on various 7" compilations and have recently released their first self-released adn self-titled mini-cd. I'm finding it hard to compare them to any other bands because they are as original as hell. On their most recent demo the singer kind of sounded like the old singer for The Vandals but now they have a new one that sounds completely different (and is much better in a very crazy sounding way). Anyway, in the past they have mixed some ska into their version of a mix of skate punk and hardcore. Now however, their songwriting is improving greatly and they are leaning more towards the new-school hardcore sound but with singing that is somewhat unusual for that genre. They are getting so damn good. They even have some funky old-school hip-hop influences stuff in their music. The lyrics range from confrontational when they question the intentions of today's punks to the straight out humorous. I keep thinking they will become fairly popular, at least locally, but so far they aren't so give them some support and hopefully the cd will put them on track. TUBbH have called it a day after 5 years of pumping out awesome original music. They were basically "sick of playing average to average crowds". It was time to move on. Jono is continuing with The Shirkers as well as a couple of other projects (including trying to be hip-hop dj) while drummer, Adrian, has gone to Salacious Crumb (an awesome non-punk band). There cd is still available for like $12, get in touch if you want a copy...it is highly reccommended!
Email me at n9704088@scholar.nepean.uws.edu.au if you feel you need to contact me for whatever reason.
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